Record-Breaking Thread

Thursday - Yet another great time with my best friend yesterday, which featured a REALLY WEIRD recording of the Tchaikovsky "Pathetique" (BADLY compressed for some damned reason!), and a positively BEAUTIFUL performance of Stravinsky's Persephone. Never a dull moment!

Mentioned earlier my daughter is the physical therapist for the Corvette drivers at their long endurance events. (Rolex 24 at Daytona, Sebring 12 hour and the 24 Hours of LeMans) She lives near Boston but stayed with us while she and her fiancé attended the Lime Rock IMSA event.

We visited the Corvette team and were invited into the drivers trailer where my daughter took a look at Tommy Milner's hand injury from Watkins Glen.

Learned the Corvette drivers don't wear cool suits (the heat at Lime Rock was oppressive) because the cabins are air-conditioned. Having windows in makes the cars more aerodynamic, the cabin electronics like the lower temps and they don't have to fumble with cool suit hookups during driver changes. Literally cool. They also have a button that will disable the AC if they are in a close battle and want every horsepower going to the wheels. :-)

Very slick, Pat. I'd be surprised if more teams didn't follow "suit," so to speak!

Pratt & Miller do a lot of military vehicle engineering so they’re more familiar with making hostile environments user friendly than most. I would presume light weight heat insulating materials are used along with a high capacity relatively low power drain compressor. It’s the kind of problem most teams don’t have the band width to tackle.

Sunday - Coming out of Market District (otherwise known as the Giant Eagle grocery), I saw a Camaro ZL1 in blue pulling in. Ugly. As. Sin. Seriously. Would not own it on a bet. I noted that it had window tinting and wondered if that was because the owner was embarrassed!

Went to the annual Corvette show that the Syracuse Corvette Club puts on in a little beach town not far from here. Picked up Dad's Vette last night from his house, drove it home and kept it overnight at my house so that I could get it there early and secure a spot in the shade. He wouldn't have been able to get it there until much later if we didn't make this arrangement. Other than a brief rain shower, it was a good day. Plenty of nice cars from each generation. They even had a "special" display with a sample from each one, C1-C7. They did have a spot for a C8, and even asked GM if they would consider bringing one. Apparently, they didn't say no. But, they also didn't say yes. As such, there was an empty spot in the grass. Oh well. I'll put a few pics below for your enjoyment.

Yes... That is what you think it is in the carbon fiber splitter. I would be sick if it were my car.

Looks like a great turnout, Jim. How many would you estimate are there? And that ZR1 is just too cartoonish. Yeah, I know, all those add-ons are functional, yadda, yadda. Still looks like a caricature.

Looks like a great turnout, Jim. How many would you estimate are there? And that ZR1 is just too cartoonish. Yeah, I know, all those add-ons are functional, yadda, yadda. Still looks like a caricature.

They usually get between 300-400, and I would say that seemed about right yesterday. I didn’t count them all, however.

As for the ZR1, even though I lean toward loud, obnoxious colors, I would agree that this car is quite cartoonish. On the way to the show, I had one pass me by going the other way. It was a dark gray color as opposed to orange. It worked much better with the carbon fiber bits.

Speaking of car shows, my little town had one on the weekend. Lot's of, um, fixer-uppers in the crowd. However, nice to see that nearly every one of them was being driven, not just stored and polished.

My favourite came as a set:

Two of those picture frames all over the windshield are the owner with Burt Reynolds, who also signed the glovebox door. Pretty cool.

Spent most of yesterday peeling the old numbers and stickers off the bronze bomber... Some paint came off in spots, but easy to touch up. Have had brakes, exhaust system, seat, seat belts, air cleaner and all fluids replaced. Added a two inch spacer to the steering wheel so my knees will clear it. Removed the left front parking light, which is allowed to let more fresh air under the hood. Getting two more sets of wheels to have two sets of slicks and one set of rain tires at race events. Minimum requirement to be relatively competitive. Master mechanic Jack Scott has done all the wrenching while I was master decal stripper and left blinker light remover. :-)

Will have our first shake down test day at Lime Rock Friday Aug. 9th and then run the Lime Rock Drivers Club Miata undercard races at the Historic's Aug. 29 - Sept. 2nd.

Have you been fully trained to do this, and how to deal with the consequences? It's not for amateurs, Pat. There's knowing righty-tighty-lefty-loosey, how to safely drain and recycle the blinker fluid, how to signal a left turn to the rest of the race crowd.....

Have you been fully trained to do this, and how to deal with the consequences? It's not for amateurs, Pat. There's knowing righty-tighty-lefty-loosey, how to safely drain and recycle the blinker fluid, how to signal a left turn to the rest of the race crowd.....

Have you been fully trained to do this, and how to deal with the consequences? It's not for amateurs, Pat. There's knowing righty-tighty-lefty-loosey, how to safely drain and recycle the blinker fluid, how to signal a left turn to the rest of the race crowd.....

Have a Lincoln Technical auto mechanics certificate of participation after watching their YouTube video and paid the $500 blinker fluid disposal fee so all is good.

At the Formula 1 2019 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim this past weekend, an event with 78 total pit stops, Max Verstappen was the winner. The other winner was his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing pit crew, who set the F1 Pit Stop World Record with a lightning-quick time of 1.88 seconds, as shown in this video:

Thursday - Lawn got done. Also the city dropped by to trim the tree on the tree lawn, so I let them handle the collection of sticks I'd gathered from the poplar in our back yard. Didn't do any music yesterday, but a bike ride may be in the works for today.

Subaru dealerships hose you. I went back for the first two oil changes on the Crosstrek ($100 each). All it is, is a full synthetic oil change, there were no extra inspections beyond what any of the regular oil change places do for you. Now I go to Pennzoil for $70.

Subaru dealerships hose you. I went back for the first two oil changes on the Crosstrek ($100 each). All it is, is a full synthetic oil change, there were no extra inspections beyond what any of the regular oil change places do for you. Now I go to Pennzoil for $70.

No kidding. I believe all 2010+ Subaru's now run full synthetic and they tried charging me more for the synthetic oil. My old Miata was $70 an oil change, full synthetic, at the dealership.

Plus the 2L is easier to access (oil filter location) vs the 2.5L. I might start doing my own oil change. Tire rotation on an AWD is a joke.

What do you know about Vredestein tires? Have any of you had any experience with these?

The Lexus will need new shoes next spring, so I'm sort of looking around, to see what's available, and the pricing. Since it's hardly a sports car, a nice Grand Touring tire will work well. Much to my surprise, the top rated tire (by actual customers) is the Vredestein Quatrac 5 (Linky). I'm intrigued, by both the high ratings and cheap price. These tires are almost half the price of a same-size Bridgestone or Continental. I've had great luck with Conty's before, and was leaning that direction. However, this has me scratching my head a bit.

I bought a set of those (and wheels) in January for my QX4 from Tire Rack and they've been great. Granted, it's not a sports car, but they are noticeably grippier, quieter and better-wearing than the Michelin Latitude tires she came with. They were even on sale! [That might be because of the Infiniti's less-than-common tire size and they just wanted to clear out their warehouse.]

Dunno about snow yet, but they're supposed to be great on snow and ice as well. Hope that helps...

I ran a set of Vredestein Wintrac Pro on my '17 A4 (before the accident). The most comparable would be the Hankook i*cept Evo 2 W320 that I am currently running on my WRX. Noise wise, a lot quieter but they will give up grip a little earlier than the Hankooks.

For the price, they can't be beat (I paid less than $150 for a 225/50-17 tire in the fall of 2017).

The Quatrac 5 is their answer to the all weather tires. Quattro Tires (www.quattrotires.com) has good prices on them and they ship from Quebec.

My '17 A4 came with the Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S and they were not bad. I still have them and if you are interested, I will let them go really cheap (it costs more to store them). The A4 was manufactured on February 2017 and the most I might have on those tires were about 10k kms.

I bought a set of those (and wheels) in January for my QX4 from Tire Rack and they've been great. Granted, it's not a sports car, but they are noticeably grippier, quieter and better-wearing than the Michelin Latitude tires she came with. They were even on sale! [That might be because of the Infiniti's less-than-common tire size and they just wanted to clear out their warehouse.]

Dunno about snow yet, but they're supposed to be great on snow and ice as well. Hope that helps...

Thanks! I have a dedicated set of winter tires, but I need 3-season tires for those surprise flurries we always seem to get in October and April when the snowies aren't on. Glad to hear they are working for you, exactly as I was hoping - grippier, quieter and better-wearing.

My '17 A4 came with the Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S and they were not bad. I still have them and if you are interested, I will let them go really cheap (it costs more to store them). The A4 was manufactured on February 2017 and the most I might have on those tires were about 10k kms.

The A4/A5, 330ix, CTS and WRX all use the same 245/40R18 sizing.

Why did you take them off the A4? Or was the car totalled with the winter tires on it? I don't seem to recall your accident.

I don't see any downside as the data is overwhelming in all categories. They top the charts and the performance difference with the Conti's is negligible. The kicker is the price. I don't see anything to lose here.

Why did you take them off the A4? Or was the car totalled with the winter tires on it? I don't seem to recall your accident.

The A4 was totaled with the winter tires on it. I have re-used the factory 18" rims and the tires are sitting in storage. I can't use them on the WRX as they need XL rated tires and the A4 are using 19" summer tires (ughh!). I had 16,000 kms on the A4 when it was totaled. I throw the A/S on around May and take them off in late October.

Couple interesting points, this from a diehard Chrysler fan. CD states that most Cop Chargers have Hemis. Not in California. Department of General Services (DGS) has a low CO2 footprint policy. Of the last batch of Chargers, only one of the 293 was not a Pentastar. It went to the “Top Cop” (Highway Patrol Chief) who is still in uniform and when I spoke with him last down in San Diego, was late because he had pulled a car over on the I5. (I thought actually, it would be kind of cool to claim that if you were ever cited by a CHP, that it would be the Top Cop- I would save that ticket).

It also shows that high horsepower and awd are popular amongst Rear wheel drive Chrysler as well as the Chrysler 300 itself. (I guess that you could put this list in the category of “what would be your choice if you did not have to pay for your car?”). So would the number one choice be a SRT Chrysler 300 AWD if one were to be made? You all know that I have been clamoring for this for years. Make it black and widebody please. And yes, I now can afford one and would buy it. If any of you highly respected 5 Bolters have any influences with the Boys of Detroit, can you call them for me? Pretty please?

Can you really just write whatever you want these days and it's justified because that's the authors opinion or it's a blog, we don't have time to edit as we need to push the data out as fast as possible? How can I take the article seriously when the author apparently doesn't even know the meaning of the word "top", that's pretty basic stuff. Guess I'll read the iihs article.

Can you really just write whatever you want these days and it's justified because that's the authors opinion or it's a blog, we don't have time to edit as we need to push the data out as fast as possible? How can I take the article seriously when the author apparently doesn't even know the meaning of the word "top", that's pretty basic stuff. Guess I'll read the iihs article.

I suspect that the author may be aggregating from among numbers 5, 8, 14, 17, and 18.

Since there has been some discussion on this topic before, I felt it my duty to fill you all in on my experience.

As I mentioned previously (I think), we have DirectTV NOW for our general TV viewing as opposed to a cable service. We got in on the ground floor; while it was still in beta actually. We liked it, and they seemed to add channels from time to time as well. Recently, due to an apparent kerfuffle between CBS and AT&T, CBS was dropped from their lineup. Of the major networks, we watch this one the most. So, we were a bit disappointed when it was gone after only being added just a few months ago.

We made the decision to switch to YouTubeTV, and so far, we don't regret it. They have all the major local channels, and some others that DirectTV NOW didn't have. They also have a better UI, IMHO. It can be customized for channel order and even which channels you see. If there are any you know you just won't watch, take them out of the list. On top of that, you can have up to six separate accounts linked to it so each member of the family can customize their own lineup and preferences.

Unlimited DVR storage, and a far better mobile app round out the positives. All of this is for the low, low price of $49.99 per month. We were grandfathered in on DTVN, so even though the price increased for others, that is what we were paying there. Overall, we like it, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to cut the cord.

We too made the switch to YouTubeTV recently. We had PS Vue. They jacked up the price for the package we had and a lower tier package with less channels still cost more than YouTubeTV. The guide and dvr on Vue were good, but YouTube's are at least as good, maybe better.

Hope they keep the price in line. Would be nice to have an ala carte channel option as well.

Well good thing they disabled the comments on the 15 fun and affordable cars not likely to depreciate. I only scrolled the list to see if there were any I hadn’t thought of, but at the bottom they list the Boxster S with it’s 3.2 inline 6. I was just scanning that that caught my eye. Inline 6 really? I mean come on guys, you can do better, or at least find a better intern. I don’t even want to go back through and see what else they might have messed up. I think they should add 93-97 Firebirds to the list, the V8 and Trans Am cars have been about the same price for several years now. Same with 05 and 06 GTOs.

We in the biz call those "listicals" and utterly despise them for the reason you mentioned and so, SO many more. Sad to see that the automotive journalism Mother Church C/D is succumbing to the quantity over quality mentality.

And don't get me started on the "sponsored content" garbage fire "articles"...

We in the biz call those "listicals" and utterly despise them for the reason you mentioned and so, SO many more. Sad to see that the automotive journalism Mother Church C/D is succumbing to the quantity over quality mentality.

And don't get me started on the "sponsored content" garbage fire "articles"...

Sunday - Pretty good 11-mile ride yesterday, and then I watched the NASCAR guys do their thing at Watkins Glen. Who says stock cars can't turn right? Only thing I wish is that there were more NASCAR races like that!

Thought the P2 car ran out of fuel but on second watch suspect he didn't realize Liddel was closing, (the rear view out of those cars is limited and the water mist may have made it near zero.) and let off the gas thinking he was all alone and then saw Liddel closing at a rate he couldn't beat and tried blocking him when it was too late.

Hard to explain how long that uphill straight is. You do a long initial climb coming over a crest before you can see the flagger/finish line. It's still a significant distance before you cross the line and easy to think you're there before you actually are.

The real kicker was Liddel"s double outside pass through Canada corner to get by both McLarens The first McLaren took a defensive line that required him to over slow and backup the McLaren behind him. Liddel was able to take the conventional line and find enough grip to get around the outside. Wonder if he was on intermediates or full rain tires and the others on slicks as he found grip no one else did. Either way a tribute to his mastery as a driver.

Precious little traffic this morning. It's a holiday today in Canada (Civic Holiday), except that this one is not statutory. And, since we follow Honda's US manufacturing schedule, I am at work. I find it ironic that we don't get Civic Holiday off, given who we are making parts for.

"While we retain our $60 a barrel Brent forecast for next year, we admit that a Chinese decision to reinitiate Iran crude purchases could send oil prices into a tailspin," a BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research report said Friday, warning that prices could sink by as much as $20-30 a barrel in that scenario.